How You Love Me Now
by JojoKatomi
Summary: Fang goes out for a fly but when he comes back he has a strange cat-girl with him. Where did she come from? Is Fang doing this simply to make Max extremely jealous, or can he learn to love her? She gets along great with everyone else, and everyone seems to like her. FangxOC Very minimal cussing, almost none at all.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so this is How You Love Me Now, a Maximum Ride story, which is different from my other story. But, I'm using the same OC for this story. I just thought this would be a good idea for a story, so here you go! Enjoy!**

**~Jojo**

My powerful raven wings shine in the summer light as I fly across the sky. I need a place to just clear my head for a while. Max has been really weird lately. By that, I mean we broke up, which isn't totally out of the ordinary for us. We've had an on and off relationship for a while now, and to be honest it's really starting to bother me. I want to be with her, honestly, I do. But I feel like she doesn't want to be with me, and that hurts. I don't like to show my emotions around the others. They're not the most understanding people to talk to about these things. I see a cave off to my left, and some rocks next to it. It looks like a nice place to sit and rest for a while. I could use that. I fly down and land easily. I sit back against a few of the rocks, feeling the summer sun on my face. I leave my wings out; I mean who is even out by a cave anyway? I sigh and close my eyes. A few minutes later I think I hear something. I open my eyes and look off to the right. I think I may have seen a flash of black, but blame it on not getting very much sleep lately. I shrug it off and continue to sit in the sun for a few minutes. I hear something behind me, but ignore it. Probably just a rabbit or something. I hear what sound like a purring sound, and then there's a sharp pain in my right wing. It feels like fangs are digging into the feathers.

"Ow!" I yell, getting up and turning around. But what I find behind me comes as a surprise. It's a girl. The first thing I notice about her is her bright, ruby red hair. I like redheads. She has deep chocolate brown eyes, but her pupils are not like normal human circles. They're sort of sliver shaped. She is kneeled on the ground behind the rock that I was leaning back against. She tilts her head to the side, seeming confused.

"You're not a bird…." She says. I can almost catch a glimpse of sharp fangs behind her rosy pink lips.

"No….not really." I say. What made her think that I was a full bird? And then she stands. I tower over her, she is very short. She only comes up to about my chest.

When she stands, a see a tail come out and flutter lightly in the air. And then, atop her head, are black cat ears. Not the fake headband ones that you can't get at Walmart for five bucks, full-on cat ears. Attached to her head. And as far as I can see, the tail is attached to her body as well. She smiles at me, and then takes a step forward. I almost want to take a step back. Is she half cat? It certainly looks like it. But I don't, because, let's face it, she's a rather pretty girl, redhead too. She's wearing black short shorts, and a blue shirt that appears to have black lace for a back.

"I'm Cat." She says, "No pun intended." She finishes with a grin, nodding up to the ears atop her head. Where she is supposed to have human ears, seems to be smooth skin, but I can't tell from where I'm standing. Her hair covers them.

"I'm Fang." I say simply.

"I'm sorry I bit you." She says, looking down and playing with a lock of her ruby hair. "Y'see, I may have thought you were a bird. There's not much food around here." She says, shrugging.

"That's, um, okay." I say, looking back at the wing that she gnawed on. It feels a little sore, but other than that, I'm fine. I take a further look at her and notice that she's very slim. More slim that she should be. What is she doing out here anyway? And all by herself? This isn't making any sense.

"So, uh, what are you doin' out here all alone?" I ask, looking around.

"Oh, " She says, "Well, as you can see, I'm half cat. And sometimes people think that's weird, but I don't think it's that weird. I mean, I'm not dangerous. I just have a little cat in me. But, nobody really liked me, so I ran away. Although, I think it's worse out here than it was back home. But, I'm out here now so I might as well grow to like it." She says, smirking. But then an idea passes through my brain. I almost dismiss it. But, it could work. What if, just if, I brought Cat home, was a little flirty with her, and I_ know _that would just burn her up. Maybe she would see that I'm not limited to her, and she would get back with me. I grin.

"Say, Cat, you could come stay with me and my friends if you'd like." I say, smiling. Her chocolate eyes light up and she smiles widely.

"Really?!" She asks. I nod.

"As long as you don't eat them, it's cool." I say, smirking.

"Thank you, Fang!" She says, running forward and hugging me. I hug her back. Maybe it won't be so bad, I mean, Cat is a very pretty girl, and maybe I could learn to like her. I smirk to myself. She lets go and then grins.

"So, how do we get there?" She asks. I get another great idea.

"Well, you look like a pretty light girl, I could probably just carry you." I say. She smiles. She has a pretty smile. This is going to be so much fun.


	2. Smile

I was right. She's very light. I carry her in my arms bridal-style, but she doesn't seem to be uncomfortable with how close a stranger is to her, or how I'm inviting her to stay with my family. On the way there, I tell her about how we escaped and how we live up on the mountain now. She nods and listens, very understanding. She looks down at the ground and then holds my shoulders tighter.

"You okay?" I say with a smirk. She nods.

"Yeah. But I just realized how high up we are." She says, looking down again and then pulling herself closer to me. When we get to the house, I stop before we go in.

"Okay," I say, "They're all part bird too, but they probably don't have their wings out. There's three girls, and three boys, including myself. We're all different, but I'm sure they'll love you." I say, smiling. She smiles back. I open the door and take her hand as we walk in the house. Gazzy looks over at us and his eyes widen.

"Who's that?!" He yells, running forward.

"Hi! I'm Cat!" She says, grinning. I keep a hold of her hand in case Max comes out, which I'm sure she will.

"I'm Gazzy! You're pretty, why are you with Fang?" Gazzy asks. Cat giggles, but doesn't get a chance to respond, as the conversation has caught Iggy's attention.

"Gazzy? Who's there? It's a girl?" Iggy asks, making his way around the room until he's standing next to Gazzy. Cat smiles, but seems confused about Iggy.

"He's blind." I say, looking at Cat. She nods.

"I'm Cat." She says, carefully picking up Iggy's hand and shaking it.

"I'm Iggy." He says, surprised. Cat smiles and then Nudge trots out into the room. She gasps and takes in Cat.

"Who is she?! She has cat ears!" Nudge says, running up and touching Cat's ears. Cat leans her head into Nudge's palm and lightly purrs. Nudge grins.

"I'm Cat! It's very nice to meet you all!" Cat says, grinning. And then I hear footsteps coming down the hallway. They're too heavy to be Angel's. It's Max. I grin and very slightly tighten my grip on Cat's hand. Max rounds the corner and stops in her tracks. Her eyes go wide, and she blinks for a minute. Cat doesn't see her yet.

"What the hell?" Max says, taking a few more steps into the room. Cat looks up and grins at Max, fangs and all.

"Max! Come here!" Nudge says, waving her over. Max walks carefully over in front of Cat, who just smiles. Max's eyes flick down to Cat's hand in mine, and then up to my eyes. I slightly raise an eyebrow.

"Hi! I'm Cat!" Cat says, reaching out to shake Max's hand. Max pulls away and looks upset. Cat pulls her hand back and smiles.

"Fang," Max says harshly, "Outside. Now." She walks outside without another word. I tell Cat I'll be right back and head outside.

"Fang! Who the hell is that?!" Max yells.

"Will you calm down? Her name is Cat." I say. "She's not dangerous. I mean, look at her! She's all smiles!" I say.

"Yeah, okay. But where did she come from?" Max asks.

"Well, I went for a fly. And then I found her. You saw her. Did you see how skinny she is? She has been living out there for who knows how long, and you're trying to tell me you don't want to help her?" I say.

"That's not what I'm saying. She's a stranger, in my house. And she's, like, half cat or something!" Max says.

"Yes. She is. Nobody liked her where she came from. Sound familiar?" I ask. Max takes a step back and looks at the ground.

"Fine. She can stay. I better not regret this, Fang." Max says, and struts inside. I follow her, a smile on my face. Cat is standing where she was before, but is now chatting with Nudge and Gazzy very easily. Angel walks out of the hallway and sees Cat, obviously taken aback. Then Angel grins and runs forward.

"Kitty!" She yells, reaching up to touch Cat's head. But she can't quite reach. Cat kneels down and leans her head towards Angel, letter her pet her. Angel gently touches her ears, and then looks at her tail.

"I'm Angel! Who are you?" Angel asks, giggling. Cat smiles and stands back up.

"I'm Cat!" She says. She looks around the room. "It's very nice to meet all of you. You're all so nice!" She says, smiling. Max smiles and takes a step forward.

"I'm Max. Fang and I are the oldest, then there's Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel. But you probably already know that." Max says. "It's nice to meet you too. Welcome to our house." She finishes with a smile.

"Thank you. I can't believe that you're going to let me stay here. It's very nice of you to share your home with me, and I hope to not be a burden to you and your family." Cat says.

"Where is Kitty going to sleep?" Angel asks.

"Angel, her name is Cat." Max says.

"Oh, Kitty is fine! I don't mind." Cat says, grinning. Max thinks for a minute.

"Well, there's an extra bed in Nudge's room. And as long as you don't mind pink, you should be fine in there." Max says.

"Yay!" Nudge says, grabbing Cat's hand and towing her up the stairs into the bedroom that they will share. There's a moment of silence.

"Well," I say, "I'm gonna go rest." I say and go up the stairs. A few seconds later I hear Iggy and Gazzy's footsteps following me.

"You guys aren't sneaky." I say, once in my room. They follow me in and sit down.

"We weren't trying to be." Gazzy says.

"So, Fang, " Iggy says. "She's hot, right?" Iggy asks, grinning. I chuckle.

"Yes, Iggy. I assure that she is a very pretty redhead. Brown eyes. Cat ears and tail." I say, describing her so that he can get an idea.

"Ohh, cat-girl, eh?" Iggy says. "I like." He finishes. I laugh and then shoo them out. Afterwards I realize that I can't seem to rest. My wing doesn't hurt anymore. It's not even sore. I get up and then head to Nudge's room. I can hear giggling and talking from outside of the door. I knock quietly. Nudge answers the door and is surprised to find me.

"Fang? What's up?" Nudge asks.

"Nothing. Just wanted to show Cat around. You two busy?" I ask.

"Nah. Go ahead." She says, and looks back into the room. "Cat! Fang's here." She then walks away from the door and Cat fills her place, closing the door behind her.

"Hi." Cat says, smiling. I chuckle.

"Yo. You like it here?" I ask.

"Definitely. Nudge is so much fun!" She says.

"Yeah. I just figured I'd show you around the neighborhood if you'd like." I say.

"Sure. " She says, nodding. I lead the way downstairs, where Max is sitting in the kitchen. She looks up at us from a cup that she's drinking out of. I turn to Cat.

"So, we'll just go for a walk and I'll show you around." I say, smirking and ignoring Max's eyes burning a hole through the back of my head.

"Okay!" Cat says, smiling. We walk out the door, and head around the house to the woods nearby.

"So, Cat, how long have you been on your own?" I ask.

"Uh, probably about 3 months." She says.

"And you didn't get lonely or anything?" I ask. Even I get lonely. And three months alone? Just how bad was her past life?

"Not really. I've never had very many friends." She says, still smiling. She always smiles, even when she talks about sad things.

"You know, you have a really nice smile." I say. She grins at me, and her eyes light up.

"You think so?" She asks. I nod.

"Thanks, Fang." She says, smiling. "So," She says, catching my attention. "Why is Iggy blind? Did something happen?" She asks, confused.

"Actually, we don't really know why he's blind. But what's funny is that he's the best cook in the house. You wouldn't expect that from a guy who can't see a thing." I explain. She nods.

"Fang?" She asks, looking at me.

"Yeah?"

"Does Max hate me?" She asks, looking down.

"What? No! She doesn't hate you, it's just that she's a little uncomfortable with a girl that she doesn't know, coming into the house and becoming friends with everyone so quickly. She just wants to protect all of us. She wants to make sure that we'll all be safe." I explain.

"Oh. Well, I wouldn't hurt any of you. You've all been so nice, how could I? You're the only people that have really accepted me for who I am." She says quietly.

"I know you wouldn't hurt anyone. You're the last person I would expect to be a threat." I say, smirking. She falls silent, not knowing what to say.

"Cat, it'll just take time for her to get used to you, y'know?" I ask, looking at her. She looks up at me and nods.

"Fang?" She asks again.

"Yes?"

"You like me, right?" She asks, looking at me. I become a little bit flustered. If I didn't like her, why would I let her into my home, and near my family?

"O-of course I like you. You're really nice and friendly, and you get along great with the little kids. And you're…..different. You know what it's like to be out casted, and that makes you more understanding." I say, playing it off lightly. She turns to me, her eyes filled with light again. She hugs me out of nowhere.

"Thanks, Fang." She says quietly.

"No problem." I say. I don't really mind her hugging me. I actually find myself hugging her back without even thinking about it. I have to mentally scold myself that I'm not supposed to actually fall for her. I'm supposed to use her, and then be done. I can have Max, and have a great friend out of it too. She pulls back from the hug and smiles.

"Fang, I like you too." She says, smiling. I grin back at her. I'm not exactly sure what she means by this. Does she mean she just likes being around me? Or does she have romantic feelings that she just doesn't know how to express? I don't ask, because honestly, I'm not even sure how I feel about Cat. I tell her we should start heading back, and she follows me. On the way there, my hand finds hers, and when we walk in the door our hands are intertwined, and I don't even know how it happened. Max spots out hands again as we enter and as we're walking through the living room I turn to her.

"Hey, why don't you come up to my room with me?" I ask, making sure that Max can hear.

"Okay…" She says, and I again feel Max's eyes burning a hole in my back as we walk up the stairs.


End file.
